Automatic vending device



N M 11.) k 0 0 e D. BROWNE AUTOMATIC VENDING DEVICE. No. 597,486.Patented Jan. 18, 1898.

Mia 52525. Inventor zam/g mlwm/ -JDO/UZ5BTOWZ M r his attonv y UNITEDSTATES PATENT Grinch.

DAVIS BROWN, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

'AUTOMATIC VENDiNG DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Fatent No. 597,486, dated January18, 1898.

A lication flied February 15, 1897. Serial No. 623,458. (lilo model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVIS BROWN, of Decatur, in the county of Macon andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.Automatic Vending Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention", relates to coin-controlled vending-machines. ,It ismore particularly designed to vend cigars. Its leading object is toenable cigars to be sold directly from the box. It is exemplified in thestructure hereinafter describedfand it is defined in the appendedclaims. 7

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a frontelevation of a vending device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the same with the rear wall or door removed.

vertical section on line it} in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section online y in Fig. 1. Fig. 5

is an end view of the cigar-deliverer on an enlarged scale. Fig. (i is adetail of the coinreleased locking mechanism, also enlarged.

In constructing a vender in accordance with my invention a casing, as 1,is made with a forwardly-extendin g lower portion that forms an obliqueand preferably rounded ledge or shelf The ledge has a longitudinal slot3 near one of its ends, and such slot is enlarged at its center, asshown at 4. The upper portion of the front of the casing is cut away, asshown at 5, to expose the cigar-box and cigars in the case, and suchcutaway portion is closed with a glass that makes the cigarsinaccessible. A partition 23 divides the lower part of the casing intotwo compartments, a removable door 6 forms the rear wall, and a slot 26at one side of the casing provides for the insertion of coins. A shaft14 is journaled in bearings fastened to the side walls of the casing. Itoccupies a position in the rear of and somewhat below the ledge 2 andimmediately above the partition 23, and it is provided with acigar-deliverer 15 and a lock member 11. A spring 24 encircles theshaft, with one end bearing against the partition and the other againstthe deliverer 15, and its tendency is to hold the deliverer in theposition indicated in the drawings. The deliverer consists of aseinicylindrical body having a radial slot 16 at about the center of itsconvex surface. In the slot is placed a con- Fig.'3 is av cave plate 17,which is adjustable in the slot by means of screws, as 19, and springs,as 18, the springs acting to force the plate outward and the screwsbeing employed to force it inward. The slot of the deliverer is enlargedat its center to correspond with the enlargement 4 of the slot of thecasing. The convex surface of the deliverer is circular, excepting theportions immediately adjoining the slot, and these are chords, as shownat 20 in Fig. 5. The lock member on shaft 14 comprises a wing 11, whichhas a pawl-rest surfaceon its outer edge concentric with the shaft, adetent-shoulder 12, extending above the pawlrest surface, and a recess11, which is adapted to receive a coin, as 27 in Fig. 6. The recess isdeep enough to receive a nickel five-cent piece, for instance, and holdits upper edge in line with the upper surface of the detentshoulder. Itsback wall I is approximately radial with relation to the shaft, and itsfront Wall is cut away to permit the coin to escape after the wing isunlocked. A pawl 10 is pivoted in the casing, with its end 1O normallyresting on the rest-surface of the wing some distance behind thedetent-shoulder, and such end 10 is broad enough to extend from side toside of the wing, including the recess for the coin. A tortuous chuteSis fastened to a side wall of the casing in such position that one endcommunicates with the slot 26 and the other with the recess of wing 11,and it is preferably proi' ided with a lug 9, that forms a bearing forpawl 10. A rod 13, connecting with the win g and extending through aslot in the casing, provides for rocking the deliverer whenever the wingis unlocked.

In preparing for operating the vender'an end is removed from a box ofcigars and the box is placed, removed end down ward, on the uppersurface of the deliverer and with its open face presented to the glassof the cutaway portion of the casing. A cross-bar 21, which fits insidethe inclined end blocks 7, may be used for holding the box in properposition, and it maybe assisted by suitable catches adapted to engagethe lid and hold it parallel with the glass. Ordinarily the deliverer islocked by the pawl and the detent-shoulder of the wing, which preventthe shaft from rockin g backward far enough to permit a cigar to fallinto the slot of the deliverer, and

when it is desired to obtain a cigar acoin, in this case a nickel, isdropped into the slot and utilized to unlock the wing. The coin isconducted by the chute 8 to recess 11, in which is temporarily held theend of the pawl. Its upper surface rises as high as the upper surface ofthe detent-shoulder, and when the rod 13 is pushed inward, after thecoin is deposited, the pawl will ride up the incline formed by the edgeof the coin and rise clear of the detent-shoulder. The deliverer maythen be rocked backward until its cigar-receiving slot is far enoughback to receive a cigar, or as far as the length of the rod will permit,and then returned to its shown position, carrying a cigar to thedischarge-slot 3. The motion of the shaft in act of receiving a cigardumps the coin from the recess of the wing, and as soon as the cigar ispicked out of the slot the vender is ready for a repetition of theoperation. If a penny-2'. 6., a United States one cent pieceshould bedropped into the slot, its diameter would not be great enough to enableit to act as an incline for the pawl, and it would simply pass under thepawl and into the coin-receptacle in the bottom of the casing withoutaffecting any result whatever.

The device is adapted for cigars of different diameters by adjustingplate 17 in or out of the slot, which is accomplished by driving thescrews into the deliverer in the one i11- stance and loosening them inthe other instance. The screws extend loosely through holes in theplate, and when they are driven into the deliverer they force the platetoward the bottom of the slot. WVhen the screws are drawn outward, thespring moves the plate in the same direction.

The chord-surfaces 20, adjacent to the slot of the deliverer, enable thesomewhat yielding and rounded surface of the cigar in the slot toproject beyond its inclosing walls and to act against the other cigarsas it moves under them. This protects the cigars from the rubbing actionof the hard unyielding edges of the slot and tends also to agitate thecigars in a manner to prevent packing thereof.

Having thus described my invention, 1

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 5 Patent 1. In a vendingdevice the combination of a receptacle for cigars, or the like, anoscillatory deliverer adapted to form a closure for the lower end of thereceptacle, such deliverer having a slot to receive a single article andcarry it outside the receptacle, a plate in the slot, springs tending topress the plate outward, screws adapted to force the plate inwardagainst the action of the springs, a casing for the deliverer in frontofthe receptacle, such casing having a slot through which the articledelivered may be taken from the slot of the deliverer, and acoin-releasable lock for the deliverer, substantially as set forth.

2. In a vending device, a delivery member having a slot, a plate in theslot, springs tending to press the plate outward and screws adapted toforce the plate inward against the action of the springs.

3. In a vending device, an oscillatory deliverer having a convexsurface, a slot in the convex surface and chord-formed surfaces adjacentto the edges of the slot, whereby an article in the slot may projectbeyond the edges of the slot without protruding beyond the line, ofconvexity, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

DAVIS BROWN.

Attest:

SAMUEL DILLER, HENRY J. VorAw.

